Story Structure

Showing 431 - 440 of 1516 results

Delay Your Story

May 31, 2020

The easiest mistake to make when writing any story is to tell too much too soon. As soon as the audience understands everything, there’s little...

Every Story is About Solving One Problem

May 28, 2020

Watch your favorite movie and at its heart, it’s all about solving one problem. The beginning of the story sets up a single problem and...

Unity and Variety

May 25, 2020

Every story fits into a specific genre such as horror, mystery, or action. The genre of your story defines its unity. How you tell that...

Treat Your Setting Like a Character

May 22, 2020

A story shouldn’t take place anywhere but in a specific location. Even if a story takes place in an ordinary high school like “Edge of...

The Story is the Foundation

May 19, 2020

Watch your favorite movie and strip away the action, costumes, special effects, and A-list actors. Then study the actual story to see how it’s constructed....

The Hero’s Allies

May 16, 2020

No hero can go through a story alone. At the very least, a hero needs a mentor who can teach the hero how to become...

Start After the Story Begins

May 13, 2020

Read most novice’s screenplays and their scenes often begin with a boring event. Two characters greet each other, sit down, and start talking. That’s a...

What’s the Worst That Could Happen?

May 10, 2020

Unless you’re writing a tragedy, your hero never gets completely defeated. However, he or she must constantly be challenged and backed into a corner. To...

The Villain’s Ulterior Motive

May 7, 2020

Initially, the villain seems to have one goal but the hero later finds out that the villain has a far more sinister, evil goal with...

Creating Emotional Conflict

May 4, 2020

Nobody watches a movie over and over again for the physical action. Nobody watches “Star Wars” to watch the dated special effects of X-wing fighters...

About Wallace Wang

First place winner in Scriptapalooza’s 2023 screenwriting competition for the supernatural horror screenplay titled “Nightmares From a Past Life”. Author of “The 15 Minute Movie Method”, “Story Starter”, and “Writing Scenes for Screenplays” in addition to over 50 computer books. Writer of “Three of a Kind”, a situation comedy produced by San Diego State University’s film class that won a student Emmy award. Designer of the board game “Orbit War”, published by Steve Jackson Games, that simulates satellite warfare in the near future.